


Highway From Hell

by Eleave, StrawFairy



Series: Rogers Closes The Portal [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Guadians of the Galaxy Team, BAMF Tony Stark, Bestiality, Blood As Lube, Come as Lube, Comic Book Science, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dehumanization, Disturbing Themes, Disturbing thoughts, Eye Gouging, Found Family, Gang Rape, Graphic Descriptions of Rape, Graphic Descriptions of Torture, Graphic descriptions of violence, Heavy Angst, Humiliation, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Minor Character Death, Non-Consensual Body Modification, Not Canon Compliant, Not Natasha Romanoff Friendly, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Guardians of the Galaxy Team, Psychological Torture, Rape Recovery, Space tech bros, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Tags May Change, The Author Regrets Nothing, The rape is not between the pairing, The team that kills together stays together, Tony Stark Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony is not having a good time, Waterboarding, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:01:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27778801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eleave/pseuds/Eleave, https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawFairy/pseuds/StrawFairy
Summary: The world held their breath when Tony Stark flew the nuke through the portal and exploded when the portal was closed before he could come back. That betrayal will cost dear to both Tony and Thanos, who will suffer more because of it and who will thrive despite it remains to be seenPlease read the tags carefullyON HIATUS
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Happy Hogan & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Nebula & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Peter Quill/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Guardians of the Galaxy Team
Series: Rogers Closes The Portal [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032036
Comments: 17
Kudos: 44





	1. Going Crazy

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thanks for giving the fic a chance, I hope you read the tags well before clicking, if you didn't please do so, we don't want to trigger anyone 
> 
> Also this work will most likely have slow updates, but no matter how much time we take, know that we won't abandon this story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, thanks for giving the fic a chance, I hope you read the tags well before clicking, if you didn't please do so, we don't want to trigger anyone
> 
> Also this work will most likely have slow updates, but no matter how much time we take, know that we won't abandon this story

“Close the portal, he’s not coming back.” Rogers decided, his voice heavy with authority and grief. After a second of hesitation, Romanoff followed the order, closing the portal before Tony could come back. 

At the other side of the portal, Tony looked back and saw the portal closing. Shock and terror overcame him. JARVIS was speaking to him, but he couldn’t hear him over the erratic beating of his heart. Tony was distracted from his panic when the nuke reached the army, ~~there was a fucking army over there, what the fuck, why are there so many, the nuke wouldn’t be enough, oh my god, what is he going to do if he’s stuck with them on space?~~ JARVIS was speaking urgently to him, but the connection broke, Tony was alone in hostile territory. He didn’t have time to think before the shockwave sent him flying, damaging his suit and rendering him unconscious. 

He didn’t expect to wake up at all. But he did. At first, the dimmed light confused him, he wasn’t lying on his bed but a hard and cold floor. He called for JARVIS, but no voice answered. That made him open his eyes and sit up. He realized he was naked in a bare room. The room was gray and cold, the walls and the smooth floor was a reprieve for his battered body. At his side there was a bucket filled to the brim with water, aside from that, only a hole in one corner stood out. Tony had had enough experiences with being kidnapped through the years to push down the panic he felt and focus on the room instead. 

A more attentive glance around confirmed the room was bare of anything except the bucket and the hole. That didn’t sit well with him. There was a door, but it didn’t have a handle or anything that he could use to open it. He didn’t have his suit, and there wasn’t anything in here that he could use as a weapon. There were no windows, so he couldn’t identify what time it was or where he was, and the ceiling was too high for him to reach it even if he jumped. 

Tony sighed and resigned himself to wait. He sat there, back to the wall opposite the door, gazing at it. Trying to find a way out of this, he could break the bucket, but whatever material the bucket was made of, it was soft. Wouldn’t work even for a makeshift knife, not that he had anything to sharpen it. He was lost in his thoughts for a while. No matter how much he tried to think of anything, there was no way for him to escape without someone opening the door for him from the outside. But time passed, and it didn’t open, nor did he pick up any sounds coming from the other side. The room must be soundproof, it was that, or he was in an isolated place. He didn’t perceive how much time he spent looking at the door before he drifted back to sleep. 

When he woke up the door still hadn’t opened. 

* * *

He didn’t know how long he had been there. But he was sure it had been at least a few days. It was difficult to estimate time with no indicator, but his stomach needed some food, his body felt weak and his head was aching from hunger and dehydration. There was nothing he could do about that, so he tried not to think about the emptiness in his stomach and just drank as little water as possible. Enough to keep himself alive, but not enough to drink all of it too quickly, as per his calculations. He didn’t know how much time he’d stay locked up here, and he had the suspicion that whoever had kidnapped him wouldn’t care he was thirsty. The bucket was all he had for now. 

  
  


Tony was becoming impatient, waiting to find out what his captives wanted from him. Was he even back on Earth? Or had some alien kidnapped him after the portal closed? Was he at the hands of the aliens that had tried to invade Earth? He shivered at the possibility and shook his head, trying to shove that thought away. He didn’t quite manage. That only made him angry, here he was, cowering under an invisible enemy like a child. He gritted his teeth and growled at the door, which turned into a full scream of frustration. He immediately regretted it, damn his throat was sore. 

Tony calmed down, only to spiral into bleak thoughts he had been avoiding: The avengers and the portal. The portal closed as soon as he went through it. Why? Was the portal unstable? It was the only thing he could think of ~~they closed it, they didn’t wait for you, they didn’t care~~ was a malfunction, a portal like that was an experiment, it made sense that it closed on its own. After all, they didn’t need to close the portal before he came back, or at least not that soon. So it was the most logical option. Because even if the only person he somehow knew was Natashalie, and he didn’t trust her much. They wouldn’t do that to him. A treacherous thought whispered that they would. This time, he didn’t silence it. 

It hurt him to think that despite everything they would sacrifice him as if he wasn’t important, as if he was a mere pawn to be disposed of without a good reason to do so. As if he were an annoyance. Tony closed his eyes and tried to will these thoughts away to no avail. It wasn’t a surprise. In fact, he was shocked it had taken so much time for his thoughts to assault him. Oh, the past days haven’t been pleasant, the memories about his last kidnapping ever-present in his head. He rarely closed his eyes without seeing Yinsen dying, his last words haunting him. He couldn’t even talk to JARVIS since he had nothing on him, not even his watch. That made him feel more vulnerable than being naked did. 

* * *

Tony didn’t know how much time had passed, having slept most of it. Not that it made him feel rested anymore. He could see his ribs now and he would bet anything on how gaunt he looked now. Regardless of not knowing how long it had been, he knew he was sick of this. He needed to hear something, the silence was killing him. He didn’t know how much time had passed, having long ago given up on trying to estimate it. Tony was so hungry he could have eaten anything right now. Even though the smell of his urine and excrement made him nauseous, despite that he was sitting on the corner that was far away from the hole. The room was small enough for the smell to reach the whole room. 

* * *

Tony had gotten used to the smell by now, he couldn’t decide if he was relieved or not about that fact. On one hand, he didn’t feel constantly nauseous anymore. On the other hand, it meant he had spent too much time here. It felt like losing his dignity, and he shoved that thought away as soon as it came. He also didn’t want to think about how the pain of hunger had settled on his stomach, becoming a constant in his life. 

* * *

Tony started talking to himself; he talked about what he would do to the people that had kidnapped him; he didn’t murder when he didn’t have to, but right now the fantasy of making those who kidnapped him suffer, making them pay for what they were doing to him, maybe show them how much it fucking hurt to take a good old repulsor to the chest. It was one of the few things keeping him sane. 

His favorite topic, at first at least, was talking about how he will hug Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy once he went back. How he would go back to talk with JARVIS and play with the bots. And eat a god damned cheeseburger, he couldn’t forget about the burger. He also imagined he was out of this place and had imaginary conversations with different people out loud. At first, it made him feel like an idiot, but with time it was one thing that made him not try to kill himself with his fingernails. 

But with time, his voice made him twitch. It was too loud, even if he spoke in whispers. And it became hollow and sore because of the hunger and minimum water he only drank when his throat was screaming at him to drink some. And as coming back home became more a fantasy than a possibility, his voice became more hollow. The thought of never again seeing his friends, the bots, and JARVIS, his children, made him want to cry, but he didn’t allow himself to do so. Stark men were made of iron. It would also dehydrate him more, double loss. So he stopped talking. He tried to exercise a bit, but that didn’t go well. He wasn’t strong enough for that in the current situation and had to give up after having trouble getting up off the floor. So he left it at that and resigned himself to spend his time looking at the door. 

Whoever kidnapped him had to open it, they had to. 

* * *

He was still here, with no way to get out. And the door still hadn’t opened. 

Tony was becoming desperate. What if the door never opened? What if he died before someone opened the door? What if they had left him here to die? He didn’t want to die like this; he didn’t want to become a rotten corpse in this bare room, away from his home, away from his family. 

Suddenly the need to get out of here became so strong he had to stop himself from doing something stupid, like running to the door in a desperate attempt to open it. He didn’t need to do that to know how sturdy the walls and door were; the first thing he did was check that. 

His thoughts drifted to JARVIS and the bots, how he missed them. He would do anything to be back at his lab accepting one of Dum-E’s smoothies, listening to JARVIS’ sassy remarks, working or playing with the bots. How he missed working. He was going crazy with nothing to do, without coffee. 

Tony looked at his hands. He had taken to biting his nails lately, so they were clipped and uneven. Tony also had taken to rip a few strands of hair from his head and play with them, knotting them, moving them around his fingers. Anything to distract himself, to do something with his hands. He scratched at his beard again. How he wanted to shave. 

Tony flinched when the familiar voices started again. He knew it was all in his head, but hearing voices wasn’t a good sign. He knew that the voices who screamed at him how he was a failure, how he fucked up everything and anyone he touched weren’t real. Because he was alone, the voices of Howard, Pepper, Rhodey, Happy and the Avengers telling him how he was no hero and how he only fixed his mistakes because of guilt weren’t real. They weren’t. But it was so easy to forget that. He couldn’t think clearly with the silence that was driving him crazy, he needed to listen to something aside from his breathing. But no matter how much he hated himself for it, he craved for the moments when the hallucinations took place, because even if they broke his heart, at least he could hear the voices of his friends. 

He sighed and slept. He had been doing that a lot lately, not having anything else better to do than being alone with his thoughts. Not that sleeping was any better with the constant nightmares that plagued his dreams. 

* * *

He didn’t see it coming; he was sleeping when the door opened. The sound startled Tony awake and once he saw the door open, he inhaled sharply. Barely believing what he was seeing. There was an alien at the door, roughly his size, humanoid and bald. So aliens kidnapped him, he wasn’t on earth. Question was, were they allied with Loki, or were they just random aliens that saw him and took him in? Whatever the case, he doubted they’d done it by the goodness of their hearts; they locked him up naked. 

He shifted his legs, trying to stand but failing, his legs numb from staying in the same position for far too long. Damn this body. He couldn’t even stand. How could he fight his way out? The alien laughed and Tony glared at him. He supposed he looked pretty pathetic, but what could he do about it? He was currently vulnerable to whatever this alien wanted. Before he could feel more nervous or ashamed of himself, the alien spoke English. 

“Here, food for you.” The alien tossed the food to the floor and Tony’s eyes looked at it without believing it. They were giving him food? It looked like cookies. He tentatively brought one to his mouth and retched, god it was awful. The alien laughed again. “Don’t like it? It’s food for a pet, fitting for you, don’t you think, pet?” Tony snarled at that, dread and fury filling him at the implications. But the alien just snorted and left, closing the door behind him. 

Tony growled and looked at the food with disgust. He thought about it long and hard. More than once he reached for them, only to decide against it at the last second. He couldn’t eat pet food! He was a human being! But with time, the hunger won over his pride. This meant nothing, you are not what you eat. He tried to convince himself of it and he almost succeeded. But then the alien came back with more food and when he saw Tony ate everything, he laughed and taunted him. The derogatory words shouldn’t cut as deep as they did. But since Tony had been alone for what felt like an eternity, hearing insults towards him on the first interactions he had since who knew how long, hurt him more than he wanted to acknowledge. 

The third time the door opened, the alien didn’t bring food. For the first time, the alien entered the room and Tony tensed, not knowing what he would do. When the alien grabbed him roughly by the left arm Tony tried to fight, but the alien was way stronger than him. Damn this body. He dragged Tony across the spaceship if the windows showing space were any indicator until he was in a bathroom. 

Once there, he threw Tony in a bathtub, and the alien started to clean him. Which freaked Tony out, why would they want him clean? Did they want to eat him? No, that made little sense, they’d make him eat more if that were the case. The alien manhandled him with no care until Tony got his answer when the alien cleaned his asshole. Tony panicked at that, the words the alien said on the first visit having different connotations now. He struggled, but the alien didn’t budge and only stopped when he was satisfied. 

He hoisted Tony out of the bathtub and the alien walked towards the door, but Tony fought the best he could to avoid that. Even if he deep down knew he was helpless and wouldn’t change anything, but he would be damned if he didn’t even try. He annoyed the alien enough for him to stop walking and going back towards the bathtub. 

The alien made Tony kneel in front of the bathtub and before Tony could fight, the alien grabbed Tony by the nape and dumped Tony’s head in the dirty water. _“No, no no no no, not this again!”_ Tony couldn’t breathe, his nose, mouth, and lungs filling with dirty water. An overwhelming sense of dread encompassed him, his heart was pulsing like crazy, making his chest ache in pain, he couldn’t focus, couldn’t think, couldn’t stop shaking. He lost track of time, not being able to think, his struggles weakening with each second he spent in the water. Until the alien lifted his head, Tony spat out water and coughed, struggling to breathe. 

“You won’t fight this.” 

Tony wheezed, not being able to do anything more than glare at the alien. He croaked weakly. “Like hell, I won’t.” 

The alien only smirked and shrugged. “Suit yourself, but mark my words, pet. You will end begging for us to fuck you once I’m done with you.” And without further ado, he dumped Tony’s face in the water again. 

Tony didn’t know how much time had passed, but it felt like an eternity. Tony lost count of how many times the alien dumped him into the water. With each waterboarding, his resolve wavered a bit more. Was being raped worse than this hell? He didn’t know anymore; he felt the start of a second panic attack, but the alien either didn’t notice or didn’t care, because he dumped his face again in the water, making everything worse for Tony. 

Tony felt helpless, which he was. What could he do? It was a lose-lose situation. Why did he keep resisting? Was it worth it? Were the last remains of his pride worth it? Tears of fury, humiliation, and hopelessness fell, and he made a gesture for the alien to stop. The alien did and looked at Tony in smug expectation. Tony gritted his teeth and swallowed his pride. 

“Just get this over with.” Tony fought to keep his voice steady and failed miserably. His shame and self-hatred were obvious in his voice. 

The alien looked down at Tony with a cruel smile. “Oh? What are you talking about?” 

Fury erupted from Tony, his voice weak but full of rage. “You know it, you bastard!” 

The alien tsked and dumped his head in the water again for a few seconds before letting go. “That’s not how you should address me, pet. Now, let’s try it again. I told you, don’t you remember? I said you’ll be begging me for us to fuck you. So beg.” 

Tony glared at the alien, but it didn’t have the desired effect, not on his state. He must look so pathetic. He was pathetic, he was going to do this. He was that desperate. He closed his eyes against tears of shame. “Please fuck me.” 

The alien laughed in delight. “That’s more like it, well done, pet!” He grabbed Tony by the arm and smiled smugly when Tony didn’t offer resistance once he dragged Tony out of the bathroom. He dragged Tony until he was in what seemed like a lounge room. Tony counted seven more aliens there. Great, just his luck. 

The alien tossed Tony to the floor in the middle of the room, dragging the other aliens’ attention. All of them looked at Tony with lust and hunger. Tony was used to people lusting over him, but the way their eyes looked at him, made Tony’s skin crawl. 

Tony was back from his musings when the alien that brought him there kicked him in the gut. “There, we’re here. Don’t you have something to tell everyone?” Tony gritted his teeth. Now that the reality of the situation was sinking in, Tony couldn’t bring himself to say it again. The silence lasted for minutes until the first alien sighed and shook his head. “Whatever, sucks for you, pet.” He grabbed Tony and dragged him towards the door. Tony panicked, if he goes back to the bathroom, he will be waterboarded again. He will- screw his pride! 

“Wait!” Desperation bled through Tony’s voice. The alien stopped and Tony sighed in defeat, this was it. 

The alien that had him smirked smugly at him. “What?” 

Tony had never hated himself more than at this moment. He swallowed audibly and spoke. “Please fuck me.” 

The aliens laughed, and Tony dug his nails into the palm of his hands until they stung. “That’s more like it, pet! Knew you’d see reason.” 

Another alien walked closer to Tony. This one looked like a humanoid lion, and Tony dreaded each step the feline-alien took towards him. 

Before he could touch Tony, the first alien spoke to him. “Hey Drerqrax, why are you first?” 

The feline-alien huffed, crossing his arms on his chest. “What does it matter?” 

“I was the one who made it comply! I deserve to be the first!” The first alien reasoned, they looked as if they were discussing who got to play with a toy first and Tony felt sick the moment he made the comparison, being well aware he was the toy in this circumstance. 

“Vielgoir has a point.” Another alien said, he was also a feline but had a small scar on his right temple and a deep voice. 

Drerqrax grunted but relented. “If you say so, Drovvux. Have at it, Vielgoir.” 

Tony felt sick. They spoke about him as an ‘it’ and he couldn’t help but flinch. He was a person, dammit! He needed to escape, but how? He was physically weak and didn’t have a clue where he was and how to escape. 

He was brought back to reality violently by someone forcing his jaw open. Before he could process what was happening, Vielgoir had taken out his cock and without ceremony shoved it all inside Tony’s mouth, bottoming out. Tony usually liked to give blowjobs, but this was different, this wasn’t nice or fun at all. It was disgusting. Everything about the situation made Tony’s skin crawl with disgust. Vielgoir grabbed Tony firmly by the hair to keep him in place and fucked his mouth, making Tony gag. It had been a while since the last time he had done this, and the alien wasn’t being careful. Which made sense. To him, Tony was only a pet, no reason for him to be careful. 

“Relax your throat, pet.” Tony tried to do it, knowing it’d be better for him to do so. After a few minutes, Vielgoir came into Tony’s mouth, Tony was about to spit it but before he could, Vielgoir spoke. “Swallow, you’ll swallow if you don’t want to go back to the bathroom.” Tony swallowed and shame curled in his gut. They laughed. “Good pet.” Vielgoir patted his head as if he were a dog and walked until he was behind Tony. Before Tony could react, he grabbed his hips, raising them, and shoved his cock inside his asshole with no preparation or care. Tony screamed in pain, making the alien chuckle. “That good, huh?” When Tony kept silent, Vielgoir slapped Tony’s ass hard. “Didn’t hear you, I think what you wanted to say was ‘Yes, it feels good’. Isn’t it?” Tony kept silent, making Vielgoir growl and reach for Tony’s throat with one hand, squeezing hard until Tony almost passed out, only then Vielgoir stopped. “Don’t make me punish you, pet. This is nothing, you won’t like a real punishment.” 

Tony closed his eyes in defeat, tears streaming down his red face, and wheezed. “It feels good.” 

The aliens laughed hard at that, jeering while they watched Tony. 

Vielgoir laughed with them and he petted Tony’s hair. “Good, glad to hear it!” 

“Hey, don’t monopolize it, let us have at it!” Drerqrax shouted from where he was sitting, looking at Tony with hungry eyes. 

Vielgoir shrugged and nodded at Drerqrax. “Sure, you can use its mouth.” 

Tony snarled, but let Drerqrax grab his hair and shove his cock in his mouth without resistance. Drerqrax’s dick was bigger and wider than a human dick, and Tony felt the strain in his jaw. He accidentally grazed his teeth. Drerqrax growled in pain and took Tony off of his dick. 

“Fuckin’ Terran, can’t do anything well, can you?” 

“Seems we need to teach it a lesson.” He sneered, delighted by the prospect. 

One alien with pale skin and high cheekbones grabbed something and grew closer to Tony. He crouched down in front of Tony and spoke. “Grab him, don’t let him move.” 

The others complied, and soon Tony couldn’t move his head. The man inside Tony stilled so they could grip his head. Tony couldn’t hear what the aliens were saying, all he could hear was his erratic heartbeat. He barely felt the cock impaling him anymore, all his focus was on the alien reaching for his face with a tool. The alien smirked at seeing how scared Tony was and with no ceremony, put the tool in Tony’s right eye and took out Tony’s eye. Tony screamed, the pain was too much, the blood dripping from his now-empty eye socket, the sound of metal cutting through something gelatinous that fell to his cheek, he was dying. They were really taking out his fucking eye? Tony felt despair at the thought, but the pain was too much and he passed out. 

When he woke up, someone was fucking him. He looked up disoriented for a moment, and then he remembered what had happened. Fuck, he was so screwed. He brought a hand towards his right eye and found a patch there. He tried to move the right eye but found he couldn’t. They really **had** taken out his right eye. Those fucking sick bastards. 

The discovery made him panic at his utter hopelessness in the situation. They could do anything they wanted with him. What was stopping them? Certainly not Tony. He was really at their mercy, a feeling he didn’t like at all. He remembered what they forced him to say, and he flushed in shame and self-hate. God, how low he had fallen. 

Tony’s thoughts stopped violently when the alien fucking him orgasmed inside him. Tony grimaced at the uncomfortable and painful feeling that irritated his shredded rectus and mentally prayed he won’t get any illness out of this. The alien was still inside him when another one called him. 

“Hey, Ghiki, get out of it! I want a piece of its ass too!” 

Ghiki snorted but complied. “Whatever, here you go, Aanik.” 

Aanik, a tall man with yellow skin and long orange hair, got in front of Tony and made him roll so he was laying on his back. “Let’s see how flexible you are.” Aanik pushed Tony’s legs until his knees were touching his shoulders. “Oh, seems you’re pretty flexible! Good to know! Now, grab your legs and keep them there.” Tony gritted his teeth and refused to do so. It was in vain, he knew, but he couldn’t help it. Aanik growled and let go of Tony’s legs. He reached for the arc reactor and tried to take it out. 

Tony panicked. “Wait! No! Don’t take it out!” No, no no no no no. Not the reactor. For a second he saw Stane in front of him, his breath quickened and his heart pounded on his chest. He came back to reality with Aanik talking.

“Oh? It’s important then! Well, if you want us to let you keep it, you must be a good pet from now on, got it, pet?” 

Tony closed his eyes to will his tears to not fall and thought about telling the alien to fuck off, he thought about how they’d take the arc reactor out, thought of how painfully that’d kill him. He was about to open his mouth and say it, but Rhodey’s face appeared in his mind, then Pepper’s, Happy’s, his bots, he heard JARVIS’ voice speaking to him, and suddenly he couldn’t. He couldn’t die here, he had to go back to them.

Tony nodded. 

Another alien interfered. “Didn’t hear you!” 

Tony gritted his teeth. “Yes.” 

“Yes, what?” 

So they will make him say it. Tony thought once more about committing suicide by pissing off an alien, but decided that he’d play along. He was already doing it, he would keep playing along until he escaped. It was only temporary; it meant nothing. “I’ll… Be a goo-” He choked on those words. God, he was Tony Stark. How could he end like this? In such an inferior position? But he steeled himself and finished the phrase. “A good pet.” The words tasted like defeat in his tongue, and the laughs of the aliens made him want to scream. He barely managed not to cry, he was pathetic enough already.

Between the jeers and laughs that filled the room, Aanik spoke. “So, what are you waiting for? Keep your legs up.” Tony did it, and Aanik petted his head. “Good pet, see? That wasn’t so bad, right?” Tony kept silent and Aanik gripped Tony’s hair hard. “Right?” 

“Right.” Tony grimaced. 

“Good, you’re starting to learn.” And then, Aanik shoved his cock inside Tony without care, making Tony dig his nails into his thighs and scream in pain. From this position Aanik could go so deep, it hurt so much. 

Tony lost track of time. He didn’t know how many of the aliens raped him, how many of them touched him, but he was fairly sure all of them did. At one moment new aliens entered and two old ones left. So they had shifts, that made sense. The new ones were quick to use him too, not sparing a thought for his comfort. Between all the pain, he gratefully welcomed unconsciousness. He wasn’t as naïve as to think they’d stop raping him just because he passed out, but at least he won’t feel it for a while. 

* * *

He planned the best he could in the situation. The plan was desperate. They didn’t leave him alone for even a second. But he had to try, he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t at least try. So when one of them dragged him to the bathroom, he waited until they were there to punch the mirror with all the strength he had left; it shattered. Tony wasted no time in taking a sizable piece and using it to slash at the alien, who roared in pain. Shit. They will know something was up now. No matter. 

Tony ran with all the speed he could muster, but soon he got lost in the corridors. Damn. This thing was bigger than he thought. What now? There should be a smaller ship somewhere, right? 

If there was, Tony couldn’t find it before they got to him. They beat him into submission and then one of them took out a… What was that? A gun? Tony couldn’t breathe, his heart racing at definitely not healthy speeds. Would they kill him now? This was it? 

They didn’t kill him. Instead, they burned him, all on his right side, from head to toe, back, and front. Tony screamed himself hoarse at the horrible pain. He needed this to stop, he couldn’t survive this. How would he? No, they wouldn’t kill him like this, would they? He fought to not pass out, but the pain won and everything went black. 

When he woke up, his whole body was bandaged. He felt like shit. He had experienced many kinds of pains in his life, and he honestly couldn’t say this took the cake. But it sure hurt like a bitch. It hurt to breathe; it had been a while since he felt pain breathing; he didn’t miss it. 

He looked around and felt relief and despair at seeing they locked him in the room he was in before. Fuck, on one hand, this meant he would take a break. On the other hand, this meant he won’t be able to even try to escape ever again. He had fucked up. Why couldn’t he do anything well? He was such a screw-up, he should just die- No, he couldn’t, he had to go back to Earth. A small voice, which was getting louder with each day, asked him if it was really worth it. For now, the answer was yes. He didn’t know if it would keep being a yes for much time. 

* * *

Tony didn’t know how many days he’d spent being constantly raped, with only minor breaks to go to the bathroom, drink water and eat that disgusting pet food. They cleaned and shaved him regularly too. Tony would feel good about that if he didn’t know why they wanted him clean. 

With time, he became numb to the pain, numb to the constant humiliation they subjected him to. Tony hated it, hated he was getting accustomed to it. What did that say for himself? It felt like giving up on his freedom, like giving up on his humanity. 

He was reasonably sure at least a month had passed because they took the patch out of his eye and the bandages on the next bathroom break. When he saw his reflection he grimaced, it looked horrible, his right eye socket was scarred and a gaping wound, and all his right side was a scarred mess. He touched his right cheek and winced, his calluses were too rough for his tender scar tissue. Tony mentally started the designs for a robotic eye for himself and to think of ways of making it work as an even better eye when an alien violently yanked him out of his thoughts and brought him back to the dreaded room. 

* * *

He woke up by a hard slap to his face that split his lip. He didn’t fight it, already used to this treatment, and knowing fighting would only make it worse. He looked up to see Losun in front of him; he smirked in a way that had made Tony’s skin crawl at the start. Now he felt nothing but numbness. It had been months since the last time he felt something, even when they targeted his right side... 

“Let’s see how good of a pet you are,” He sat on the floor in front of Tony. “I want you to fuck yourself on my cock.” 

A flash of defiance passed through Tony’s eyes and for the first time in some time, he hesitated on following an order. This was the first time they made him do this. Part of Tony preferred death to do it, but most of him couldn’t find it in him to care. They’d done so much to him. What was one more humiliation to the ever-growing list? He wasn’t more than a pet- No, no; he wasn’t a pet. He was a Terran- human! He was a human being, with rights and a shit ton of money and contacts. He was Tony Fucking Stark; he was loved and- Was he? Was he really all of that? Sure, at some point he was all of those things, but now? A kick to the gut made him double over and wheeze. Damn, he took too much time to obey. Without further ado, he moved and followed the order, not paying attention to the pain, the semen and blood inside him working as a lube. 

His hips worked mechanically while his mind wandered towards his previous thoughts. Was he really loved? Was he still Tony Stark? It had been so long since he last heard his name, since he was treated as a person. Why did he keep going again? What was stopping him from killing himself? What would Rhodey, Pepper, Happy and JARVIS think of him if they saw him now? Being treated like a fuck toy, fucking himself on his rapist’s cock. God, how he hated himself. He would disgust his friends and children. He didn’t deserve them. 

Losun laughed, being quickly echoed by the others. “That’s it, pet, make me cum. I know you like it!” 

“Hey, move faster, we want a good show!” 

Tony moved faster, knowing what would happen if he disobeyed, especially since he was late to obey the last order. His thighs protested, but he was used to the pain. He never let the pain lord over him when he was Tony Stark. Why would he let it now? 

Losun finally orgasmed, cum filling Tony’s insides in an uncomfortable but familiar way. The alien slapped Tony’s ass and sighed in contentment. “Good pet... Hey, pet. You liked it, right?” 

“Yes, I liked it.” Replied Tony, knowing if he didn’t say what they wanted, how they wanted it would only serve for them to punish him. 

All of them laughed. “Good, don’t you have anything to say then?” Tony looked at him in confusion, so Losun elaborated. “Good pets say thank you to their owner when they get what they want. Where’s your gratitude? I let you fuck yourself on me, you should be grateful, pet!” Seeing Tony hesitated, he added. “Are you a bad pet now? Do I need to punish you?” 

For the first time in a while, Tony had difficulty saying what they wanted him to say. “Thank you for fucking me.” In his mind, Tony repeated a phrase, clinging to its meaning. _“I’m Tony Stark.”_

Everybody roared in delighted laughter at that, and he passed Tony around to another alien. Soon Tony passed out. 

* * *

He didn’t want to lose hope. But it was difficult to do so while being forced to fuck himself on one of his captors while deep throating another. 

Another alien, Ilphaell, grabbed one of Tony’s hands and brought it to his dick. “Your hands are slacking.” 

He lost balance and gagged on the dick in his mouth, but he managed to not use his teeth. He tried to focus on doing the three things at once while only using one hand to support himself. He was managing well until Uxil grabbed his other hand and made him do two hand jobs at once. He managed for a few seconds, but he was clumsy and he knew it. He had to do better or they would punish him. He tried the best he could, but they hadn’t cut his nails in a while and he slipped, nails digging into Uxil. He froze, Uxil’s growl in pain bringing him to reality. 

He was so screwed. 

The aliens manhandled him until he was laying on his back on the floor, all his limbs and head pinned to the floor. Then, one by one, they took off all twenty of his nails. He screamed himself hoarse at the pain. He didn’t know how much time they spent torturing him, he only remembered the laughs at his pain. He didn’t realize when they finished, but he realized when they came to him with what could only mean bad news for him. When they cut off his right hand, he went into shock. So much he barely felt and cared when they cut off his right foot. His hands were his life. His hands and intelligence were the best of him. How was he supposed to tinker, to create, without one of his hands? How was he supposed to get out now if he couldn’t protect the most important aspect of himself? Forget about working in the lab now, forget about tinkering and playing, forget about driving his fast cars. His life was officially over. He would never go back now, he couldn’t. Not without his hands. And without his work, was he really Tony Stark?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to ScarletSorceress and Cypher_nicus from discord for being beta for this chapter!  
> Hope you enjoyed this, any constructive cristism is appreciated
> 
> edited on December 20, 2020.   
> edited on January 14, 2021.


	2. The Pet, A Stray

The pet was tired. Its holes being rutted by the… What did its owners call the beasts? It couldn’t remember. Not that it mattered who or what used it, it was a pet, born to be used. The pet closed its eyes, it didn’t want to live like this. It should have been quicker in killing itself, then it would be just dead and not raped by two beasts in rut. Not that the treatment was that much worse than what its owners’. 

“Oh my god.” 

The pet heard a voice, but its eye couldn’t see anyone from its position. A man’s voice, but it wasn’t from one of its owners. That made it curious, what was happening? 

It heard a gasp and then, a woman’s voice. Saying a word it never thought it’d hear again, a world-changing, incredibly powerful, shocking word. “Stark.” Its name. That was its name, why did someone here know its name? A pang of familiarity filled its chest, that had happened a lot in the past, someone knowing who the pet was. But it wasn’t a who anymore. Why was someone calling it by a name that wasn’t its anymore? 

It vaguely registered the sounds of battle. Its owners were crying out and then the beasts stopped moving and dropped to the floor. The cell was being opened and a man got the beasts off the pet and crouched down next to it. 

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ, okay. Dude, you’re free, we’re going to help you, okay. So, here, have this. You know how to use one, right? Oh shit, you don’t right, well. This is-” It grabbed the weapon the man was offering and it gasped, the weight was different, but it was unmistakenly a gun. The Pet could make this work. It saw one of its owners running towards them, the man hadn’t noticed. While its owner ran towards them, hatred fuelled it, the pet remembered every humiliation, every taunt, every torture, and scar. The pet didn’t hesitate, it shot. It didn’t need to be explained how to work the gun, it knew how to work one. The man looked back and then at the pet with a pleasantly surprised expression. “Yeah, that’s how you do it. Good, can you stand?” 

“Yes.” It Answered without thinking, used to reply upon being addressed, not doing so meant punishment. It stood, stumbling a bit but maintaining its balance thanks to many months of practice, and walked, the man at its back, weapon ready to fire to its owners- no, to its previous owners. It didn’t have an owner anymore. 

It froze at that realization. It didn’t have an owner, it was free. It looked around, all of its owners were down. Nobody would stop it from killing itself and it had a weapon in its hand. Without thinking more, it pulled the gun to its own head and pulled the trigger. It’s hand was jerked to the side, and it realized it was still alive. The wall next to it had a hole still smoking from a bullet. It looked at the man with rage and desperation, but before it could do more, its world went black. 

* * *

Gamora was going for drinks when she heard the man at the bar bragging. She would have rolled her eyes and ignored him, if it weren’t for the fact he was bragging about having something Thanos wanted. 

She immediately went back to the table. “Peter, we need to follow that man.” Gamora discretely pointed at the man on the bar. 

The table looked up now silent and Peter got up, sobering immediately. “What’s happening?” 

“I don’t know, he bragged about having something Thanos wanted.” Gamora said with a serious expression. 

Peter frowned. “An Infinity Stone?” 

Nodding, she replied. “Possible, we need to follow him.” 

Peter looked at who Gamora was pointing and narrowed his eyes, he looked back at his friends. “He’s leaving, you guys go back to the ship. We need to be able to leave at any moment.” Peter and Gamora left before Rocket, Groot or Drax could say something. 

They followed the man to a ship, managing to enter without being seen, and kept following the man until they arrived at a lounge. A lounge filled with men, who were jeering at- 

“Oh my god.” 

Peter just blew up their cover, but Gamora couldn’t find herself caring about it, because in a cell, being raped by two beasts, was a man. Disgust filled her, these kinds of people were repugnant. How could they do that to a man- was that light coming out of the man’s chest? A blue light, a man. No, a Terran. She couldn’t help but gasp. So this was what Thanos wanted. “Stark.” 

She saw how the man jerked in surprise at the name, so it was true, he was Stark. Gamora looked at Peter and with a nod, she went towards the men and Peter to free the man. The men weren’t bad fighters, but she could see they didn’t train seriously, they were weak-willed and lost in record time to her, fitting for the filth they were. She left one alive and held him pinned to the floor, he wouldn’t cause problems and she allowed herself to look up. There was only another man left, going straight towards a distracted and frantic Peter. Before she could shout out a warning, Stark took the gun Peter was offering him and shot at the man in the head, killing him instantly. She blinked at that and smiled, yes, this was  **definitely** Stark. 

Her smile morphed into horror when Stark pointed the gun at his temple.  **No! They couldn’t afford to lose him! He was too important!** She didn’t need to worry, Peter hit the gun just in time for it to blow the wall and Gamora allowed herself to sigh in relief. She didn’t miss Stark’s expression and wondered what had happened to him, but Peter hit him with the butt of his gun on the nape and Stark collapsed unconscious. Most likely for the best, they needed to figure out what was happening. 

Peter gently dropped Stark to the floor and wrapped him in his jacket. “Gamora, what the hell is happening here?” He walked until he was at her side and she focused her attention on the pathetic excuse of a man she had pinned to the floor. 

Narrowing her eyes, she spoke to the filth she had at sword point. “That’s something I’d like to know too. Start speaking. What is it that you have that Thanos wants? What is Stark doing here?” 

“It’s just it! Just it! We don’t have anything else, it’s just the pet, you can have it!” The filth rushed to explain. The man looked terrified. 

Gamora couldn’t help but draw a bit of blood at those words. “Pet? Are you talking about Stark?” The man nodded. “Since when do you have Stark?” 

“Since a few days after the explosion that destroyed a quarter of Thanos’ army.” 

“That was years ago!” Peter raged next to her and Gamora couldn’t help but agree with his ire. She felt the same. 

The man smirked, as if he was remembering good times. “Yeah, it took time to break it, but we managed. It is the best pet-” It was the second time Peter had thwarted their plans, first by speaking out loud, now by killing the last filth. But she couldn’t bring herself to be mad about it, nor did she feel the need to chastise him when she was a second away from slicing the filth’s throat, herself. 

Gamora looked at Peter, who was breathing hard, rage in his eyes, with his gun still pointing at the corpse. She stood and touched his shoulder. “Better?” Peter replied by shooting again, once at the corpse’s chest, another at the groin. He looked ready to keep firing, but Gamora stopped him. “If we want to help Stark, we need to leave quickly.” 

Peter’s breathing calmed down and he closed his eyes, nodding. “Yeah. We should get going, eh... Anything we can use to cover the dude? We can’t just bring him naked to the ship.” 

Gamora stripped the largest corpse off his jacket and handed it to Peter. “Here, hurry up.” 

They reached the Milano without problems. Once inside, Rocket and Drax were in their seats. Peter handed Stark to her. “Leave him in a room, we need to get going!” She nodded and left the room, the last thing she heard was Drax and Rocket asking about what had happened. 

* * *

Peter forgot about caution when he saw the man in the cell, being used for those bastards’ entertainment. He would have killed all of them then and there, but Gamora’s voice focused him. 

“Stark.” 

Someone Gamora knew, this dude must be important then. He looked at Gamora and, sharing a nod, they separated. Peter didn’t pay attention to the battle and focused on getting the man, Stark, out of the cell. Opening it and taking out the two beasts that were… That had been… Peter couldn’t bring himself to even think about it. He shoved the beasts off the man and crouched down next to him. 

Peter gasped at the scars that encompassed all of Stark’s right side, that must have hurt. Stark looked at him and Peter couldn’t help but ramble in his panic. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ, okay. Dude, you’re free, we’re going to help you, okay. So, here, have this.” Peter offered Stark one of his guns. “You know how to use one, right? Oh shit, you don’t right, well. This is-” He stopped talking when he saw Stark grab the weapon, Stark’s face full of emotions he couldn’t decipher. Then Stark pointed the weapon in his direction and before he could say anything, shot. He cursed but then realized he wasn’t shot and heard a cry behind him. He looked back just in time to see one of the men falling to the ground dead. Clean shot to the head on a moving target while laying down. Woah. “Yeah, that’s how you do it. Good, can you stand?” 

“Yes.” Stark stood and stumbled a bit, Peter looked down and gasped upon seeing Stark was fucking standing without assistance when he didn’t have one foot. How he did it Peter couldn’t understand. Peter was about to help him, but Stark maintained his balance on his own and started walking. Peter at his back, gun up just in case. He almost collided with Stark when the guy stopped suddenly, before Peter could ask what was the problem, Stark had tried to end himself. 

Peter felt as if he were moving in slow motion, but he knew he had been fast enough when he saw the hole in the wall and not in Stark’s head. Peter was about to yell at Stark, but his eyes stopped him, they looked full of desperation and rage, and Peter reacted before Stark could try again. He carefully dropped Stark to the floor and wrapped him in his jacket, it was better than nothing for now. Then, Peter focused on Gamora, looking at her up and down to be sure she was alright. “Gamora, what the hell is happening here?” Peter walked towards her and stayed at Gamora’s side. 

Gamora frowned at the scum on the floor. “That’s something I’d like to know too. Start speaking. What is it that you have that Thanos wants? What is Stark doing here?” 

“It’s just it! Just it! We don’t have anything else, it’s just the pet, you can have it!” 

The scum’s answer made Peter’s blood boil. Pet? They better not be talking about a person. 

It seemed Gamora wasn’t a fan of the answer either, because he could see how she drew a bit of blood. “Pet? Are you talking about Stark?” The man nodded. “Since when do you have Stark?” 

“Since a few days after the explosion that destroyed a quarter of Thanos’ army.” 

Peter couldn’t help himself, he raged at the scum. “That was years ago!” 

The man smirked, as if he was remembering good times. “Yeah, it took time to break it, but we managed. It is the best pet-” Peter didn’t think, and even if he had been thinking. He was pretty sure the answer would have still been killing that scum. How dare he? How dare they treat a person like that? What kind of sick entertainment was that? 

Gamora stood and put a hand on his shoulder. “Better?” Peter couldn’t form words yet, so he answered by shooting more at the dead scum. He shot twice and was about to shoot him in the groin again but Gamora stopped him. “If we want to help Stark, we need to leave quickly.” 

Gamora was right, what was important now was Stark, he needed help. And he’d be damned if they didn’t help the dude! He focused on his breathing and soon he felt calm enough to speak. “Yeah. We should get going, eh… Anything we can use to cover the dude? We can’t just bring him naked to the ship.” Peter looked at Stark, he was skinny and he looked so ill. Just thinking about what happened to him made Peter sick to his stomach. 

He didn’t see Gamora until she put a large coat on his hand. “Here, hurry up.” 

Leaving the ship and reaching theirs was anticlimactically easy. Nobody tried to stop them, nobody looked at them twice and soon they were on board the Milano. Peter gave Stark to Gamora, knowing he would be in good hands. “Leave him in a room, we need to get going!” 

As soon as he sat down, Rocket spoke. “Peter! What the heck is going on here?” 

“No time to explain, we need to get out of here, I’ll explain after we leave.” Rocket grumbled but complied and they left, a few minutes later without being followed, Peter allowed himself to relax. “We did it!” 

“We did what exactly? What the hell was that thing you had on your arms?” Rocket leaned towards Peter in interest. “Is it a treasure?” 

“He’s not a thing!” Okay, he was being irrational at getting mad at Rocket for saying that. He didn’t see Stark. But after hearing the scum treat Stark as an ‘it’... “Sorry, it’s just…” 

Gamora came back and spoke. “I left him in the room closest to yours, Peter. He’s still sleeping. But we should prepare for when he awakens.” 

Rocket looked back and forth between Gamora and Peter. “Why? Who the hell did you kidnap?” 

“We saved him!” Peter defended himself, offended at the question. 

Crooking an eyebrow, Rocket asked. “Then why do we need to prepare for when he wakes up, huh?” 

“Because he tried to kill himself!” Peter blurted out before he could think. 

Gamora butted in. “And we can’t allow it. He’s far too important.” 

Rocket seemed interested in that. “Important? How?” He rubbed his hands together, a smile on his face. Before Peter could say anything, Gamora answered. 

“He’s Stark. The one who thwarted Thanos’s plans during Terra’s invasion. He single-handedly destroyed a quarter of Thanos’ army.” 

Peter looked at Gamora in shock. How was that possible? “He what?” 

Rocket whistled. “What the fuck kind of weapon did you think he used? Must have been a freaking good one! I’ll go wake him up and-” 

“No!” Both he and Gamora exclaimed when Rocket made the motion to stand. Peter couldn’t let Rocket or Drax alone with Stark in Stark’s condition, not until he was stable. Who knew how a suicidal person would react at their no filter attitude. 

Rocket frowned at that. “What? Why the hell no? What’s the problem? He can sleep at any time!” 

Sighing, Gamora explained. “The problem is in the conditions we found him.” 

“Conditions?” 

“He was… He was being… Ah, I CAN’T SAY IT!” Peter growled, too disgusted to put what he saw into words. 

Gamora put a calming hand on Peter’s shoulder and spoke, voice grave and disgusted. “They were using him as a pet, as a toy for their sick entertainment.” She spat with a surprising amount of venom. “When we freed him of his cell, he tried to kill himself.” 

“Oh. Are you sure we have the correct guy?” Rocket’s voice showed especticism now. 

Gamora nodded at that. “Yes, he has the trademark blue light in his chest and he reacted to the name Stark.” 

“He also managed to kill one of those scum, clean shot in the head while the scum was running towards us while he was laying down. He only has one hand and spent years in captivity. I’d say we have the correct guy.” Peter added, still impressed by the feat, it spoke of years of practice and experience. 

“Only one hand? Seems they did a hell of a number on him.” Rocket grumbled. 

“You cannot do a number on someone, numbers do not work that way.” 

Peter ignored Drax’s comment and kept talking. “He also didn’t have one eye, didn’t have a foot and all his right side is a scarred mess.” 

“We must treat this with the utmost care. If we want to defeat Thanos, his help would be invaluable. If he helps us lead an army, more people would follow.” Gamora said, stressing the importance of this, but Peter wasn’t convinced. 

“I doubt he’s in any condition to do that right now Gamora.” 

Gamora shook her head. “No, right now not. But we can help him heal, meanwhile, we prepare, and then, we strike.” 

Rocket nodded at that. “Good plan, now let’s go see this motherfucker.” 

“Leave the autopilot on, I won’t leave you or Drax alone with a suicidal person.” 

They bickered until they arrived at the room, where Stark laid on the bed, covered by blankets. 

Rocket was the first to enter. “Woah! You weren’t kidding with the scars, fucking hell!” 

“He doesn’t look like a hero. He looks like a victim.” 

“You can be both.” Gamora replied to Drax’s comment, voice grave and Peter had to agree with her. 

“Should we wake him up or...?” Peter stopped a few steps from the bed, not quite sure how to proceed. 

“Let’s wake the princess up.” Before Peter or Gamora could stop him, Rocket climbed into the bed and started to shake Stark. 

Stark opened his eyes, confusion present on them. He must be confused at not being on the other ship anymore. Peter gritted his teeth at the mere memory and put himself in Stark’s line of vision. 

“Hey, Stark, right? I’m Peter Quill, this is Gamora, Rocket, Drax and Groot. We are known as the Guardians of the Galaxy.” 

Stark’s eyes widened in shock before his face lost all trace of emotion. Woah, that was a pretty good poker face, even better if you took account of the circumstances. Stark didn’t answer to his introduction and sat up instead, his whole body was tense, but there was something else Peter couldn’t pinpoint. 

Stark spoke with a raspy voice, throat sounding rough and sore. Peter didn't let himself think about that further and focused on Stark's words, he almost wished he hadn't.

“Are you my new owners?” Stark’s voice was flat, devoid of all emotion, but his eyes betrayed him, he was on edge. 

Peter felt so sick he barely managed to not puke. The question felt worse than one of Drax’s punches to the stomach. He was so shocked he barely managed to choke out. “I… We… We’d never… We didn’t… NO!” 

Gamora looked as shocked as him, and even Rocket, Groot, and Drax looked as if they didn’t know what to say or do. Gamora was quicker to regain her wits, she stepped closer and locked eyes with Stark. “No, we don’t own you in any way. You are your own person, you’re your own... owner.” 

Stark’s face morphed from expressionless to an ugly smirk, disbelief clear in his voice and face. "Why then? You... Recognized me."

Gamora nodded. “Thanos knows of you, I was once part of his army, one of his predilect children.” 

Stark’s face blanked at the name, not recognizing it. “Thanos? Who’s that?” 

“The one responsible for the invasion to Earth a few years back, whose plans you stopped, you took a quarter of his army dude. Of course, we’d want you on our side if we want to stop Thanos.” Peter explained, trying to sell the idea the best he could. 

Stark crooked an eyebrow. “So Loki serves someone?” 

Peter didn’t have an answer for that but was saved when Gamora butted in at that. “He didn’t do it voluntarily. He was kidnapped and tortured into submission. Mind controlled too.” 

Stark flinched at that, it was so minuscule and quick that you would have missed it if you blinked. Peter didn't blink. “Huh. So Thanos wants to rule Earth?” The nonchalance in Stark’s voice didn’t fool Peter, but he was doing a pretty good job nonetheless. 

“He wants to destroy half the universe.” Rocket interceded. 

Stark looked startled at that. “...Run that by me again?” 

“Nobody is running.” 

Stark looked at Drax in confusion. “What? No, it’s an expression-” 

Rocket huffed from Stark’s bed. “Don’t bother, Drax can’t get metaphors and sarcasm.” 

Before they could get off course with the conversation, Gamora intervened. “Thanos wants to collect the Infinity Stones and use them to destroy half the universe. With them, all he’d need to do is snap his fingers.” 

“Snap his fingers and half the universe is gone? How the hell does that work?” Disbelief was clear in Stark’s voice. Peter guessed it sounded pretty unbelievable, especially for a human. 

“Well, as far as we know, the Infinity Stones are six gems with incredible powers as well as control over each of their aspects. Time, Space, Power, Mind, Soul, and Reality. Each on their own are incredibly powerful, all of them together are unbeatable.” Gamora explained with patience. 

A tense silence followed Gamora’s words, everyone letting Stark process it, it was a lot to take in. Finally, Stark spoke. “So you’re saying there’s a big bad madman that will destroy half the universe with magical jewelry?” 

Peter and Rocket snorted and nodded. “Basically, yeah.” 

“Fuck. We gotta stop him.” Stark ran his hand through his hair and Peter couldn’t help but realize that even in his state, Stark was very attractive. 

Instead of checking Stark out, he answered the question. “That’s the plan, yes.” 

“So, what’s the plan exactly?” Stark’s voice sounded resolutive, at least he was on board, now to the difficult part. 

“Well… You’re pretty famous, dude.” Peter started to explain. 

Stark blinked at that. “Well, yeah- oh wait, you mean as in, in space?” 

That took Peter by surprise and it was his time to blink. “Yes, you’re famous on Terra too?” 

“Yeah… At least I was before… Before.” For the first time, Stark’s poker face noticeably broke, letting them see a broken man behind the mask. But he was quick to put it back in place. 

Peter tried to avoid talking about that and redirected the conversation. “So... What’s your name? Your whole name I mean.” 

“Anthony Edward Stark, though everybody calls- used to call me Tony.” 

Peter nodded. “Tony, got it.” 

A flash of something crossed Tony’s eyes but it was gone before Peter could analyze it, Tony nodded. 

Rocket interrupted at that. “Wait, you have three names?” 

“Terrans have more than one name, we have names and surnames, some countries have more than one surname, most people have at least two names plus surnames.” Peter explained. 

“Huh, so-” 

Gamora was having none of the change of subject. “As fascinating as Terran’s naming system is, I think we should focus on Thanos and saving the universe.” 

“I am Groot?” 

Tony looked at Groot with open curiosity and shook his head. “No, this thing in my chest isn’t my heart.” 

Rocket looked surprised at Tony. “You can understand Groot?” 

“Yeah?” Tony’s face scrunched in confusion, as if Rocket had asked something that should be obvious. 

“How?” Peter couldn’t help but gape, it took him weeks before he finally understood Groot’s speech. 

Tony shrugged. “I’m… I was used to this kind of speech.” 

“There’s Flora colossus on Terra?” 

Crooking an eyebrow, Tony shook his head. “I take that’s Groot’s species? No, there’s nothing like that on Earth. I… There were other beings who couldn’t communicate with words that I chatted with.” 

Sensing a sensitive topic, Peter changed the subject. “So, the plan. The plan so far is that, since you’re famous for destroying a quarter of Thanos’ army. People would be inclined to follow you if you lead an army.” 

“Me? Lead an army?” Tony looked as if he couldn’t believe what they were asking and Peter decided it was enough for today. 

“We’ll let you rest, you’ve been through enough for today. Just… Think about it, okay?” Tony nodded mechanically and Peter and Gamora ushered the others to leave the room. Peter left. 

Once outside, Peter put on music, maybe that’d help Tony. 

* * *

It woke up with a jerk, someone was touching it but not in a sexual way, it wasn’t rough either and that confused the pet more than the unfamiliar ceiling did. It quickly remembered what happened before passing out, those people must have taken it. The pet wanted to scream, it had new owners now? But back on its previous owners’ ship, the man gave it the means to defend itself, so maybe there was hope? 

Before it could keep thinking, the man from before entered its line of vision. “Hey, Stark, right? I’m Peter Quill, this is Gamora, Rocket, Drax and Groot. We are known as the Guardians of the Galaxy.” The pet did his best to not snort at the corny name and focused on the important thing. 

They knew it by name, they wanted something from it, then. The pet lost what little hope it had and that angered it, it should know better by now. The pet sat up and spoke, hiding a wince at that. It had been a while since they let it drink water and the beasts were a bit rougher than its previous owners. Making its throat more sore than usual. “Are you my new owners?” 

The look on the people’s faces gave it new hope. But he refused to let it show, they could be playing it. The man that looked human spoke, “I… We… We’d never… We didn’t… NO!” 

Okay, there was hope still. 

A green woman spoke and the pet recognized the voice, so this was the one who knew the pet. “No, we don’t own you in any way. You’re your own person, you’re your own… owner.” 

It wanted to believe it, it really did. But years of taunting made it difficult and the pet knew it showed on its face and voice. “Why then? You…” You said my name, it wanted to say. But it wasn’t its name anymore. Although these people didn’t need to know that. Maybe the pet could pretend to be a person, maybe that way, it could be free and someday, it could believe it and become a person again. “Recognized me.” The pet said instead. 

While the man and the green woman spoke, explaining about this Thanos person, his plans for mass destruction, and magical gems, it felt overwhelmed. There was so much they had to do. If these people were to be believed, it was famous, or better said, its past self was famous. And they wanted it to lead an army? Tony Stark would have said yes without hesitation, too used to leading by himself to question it. The pet couldn’t do it, it was just a pet, it was born to be used, what else was it good at but at being used? They left and the pet welcomed the silence and solitude. Although the feeling was strange, it had been months since the last time it was alone. 

Suddenly, music started playing and it couldn’t breathe. The music was from Earth, it recognized the song, tears fell from its eyes. For the first time in a long time, it felt safe. 

* * *

Peter collapsed on his chair in the kitchen. “Fuck. That was… Fuck.” 

Despite the poor wording, everyone nodded. “He needs help,” Gamora said, sounding tired. “More help than I predicted.” 

“Can you tell us what you know? The dude fuckin’ asked us if we were his fuckin’ owners, fuckin’ hell Quill! What the fuck happened to him?” Rocked hissed, looking disturbed. 

Peter closed his eyes. “I… We followed that dude from the bar, right? Well, we followed him to his ship, then to a lounge area when he forgot to lock the hatch, there were nine more men there, they were jeering and watching Tony, he was in a cell, being… Being…” Finally, the whole situation finished to sink in Peter and he quickly ran to the bathroom, Peter was sure they could hear him heaving, he didn’t have time to close the door. But at the moment, he couldn’t care less. 

When Peter came back, Gamora was finishing explaining what they saw and what that scum told them. Rocket was snarling, clinging to his gun as if he wanted to use it, Groot looked furious and Drax was standing, a hole on the wall at his side. Great, now they needed to repair the wall, although he couldn’t fault Drax for reacting like this. He had killed that scum in his fury after all. 

“You killed them all?” Was the first thing Rocket said when he noticed Peter. 

Peter thought about it and nodded. “I think so, at least we killed all of them who were on the ship.” 

“Pity, I’d love to show them what this baby can do.” He said, caressing his weapon. 

“Save it for Thanos.” Gamora advised. 

“So, what are we going to do about him?” Peter ran his fingers through his hair. 

Gamora looked at them with a thoughtful expression. “Well, he needs help. So I guess the first thing is making sure he’s physically well. Maybe you can make him a hand, a foot, and an eye, Rocket?” 

Rocket huffed and said nothing, better than an outright refusal. 

Gamora shrugged, knowing it’d be the best they’d get for now. “Okay, we’ll let him rest for today. Let’s go to sleep, tomorrow will be a hard day for us all.” 

Peter laid awake in his room. He couldn’t get the image of Tony being raped by fucking beasts out of his head. When he finally did, it was for the scene of Tony asking them if they were his new owners to take place. Not a good replacement. Peter succumbed to exhaustion and a sleep full of nightmares. 

He woke up the next day feeling tired and not ready to leave his bed. But Gamora knocked on the door, telling him to wake up. Peter groaned but he got up and went to the bathroom to shower. Once he was ready, he went to get Tony. Peter knocked on the door and spoke softly. 

“Tony? Can I come in?” 

“Yes.” The voice sounded… startled? Why would he be shocked? Peter entered the room and suddenly realized they hadn’t given Tony any clothes yesterday. He cursed internally. 

“Shit, we forgot to give you clothes. For now, you can use some of mine, on the next planet we’ll get you new clothes. Do you want to shower first?” Peter scratched the back of his head, unsure on what to do. 

Tony looked at him funny, and the next words broke something inside Peter. “You are giving me a choice?” 

Peter had to bite his tongue to not scream, he didn’t want Tony to think he was violent, instead, he said in the most gentle and honest voice he could. “Of course, you’re not a prisoner here. You’re our equal. You can do whatever you want here. But please don’t destroy the ship.” 

Tony’s eyes became wet, but no tears fell and Tony looked away. Peter stood there patiently, until Tony spoke again, in a rough voice that made Peter want to give him a glass of water, shit, when was the last time the dude drank water? “I’d like a shower.” 

Peter nodded. “Good, you need my help?” 

Tony shook his head, with the same poker face as last night. “No.” 

“Good, here, I have a bathroom next to my room.” Peter guided Tony to the bathroom, careful to not look at Tony’s scarred body. After a quick trip to Peter’s room for clothes, he gave Tony a towel, a clean shirt, and pants before leaving. Waiting at the other side of the door just in case Tony needed help. He didn’t. Somehow Tony managed to wash, dry himself and then dress all without a hand and a foot. How he did it would be forever a mystery to Peter. The fact he did it in record time was even more impressive. 

Soon, Tony was in the medical bay, being scanned. What they found looked bad. He was malnourished, dehydrated and the scars he had inside his… Inside were horrifying according to Gamora. 

She looked at Tony. “Do you want us to maybe help take care of your burn scars?, Rocket can make you a hand, an eye, and a foot too, if you wish.” 

Tony’s mask broke and for a second, shock took place. But he recovered quickly and nodded. “Yes, I’d… I’d like that, I can make a foot and the eye myself if you’d let me, once I have two hands again.” 

Rocket looked up at that, interested. “Oh? You know how to build things?” 

Tony shrugged. “Yeah, that was pretty much my job.” 

“So you are a…” 

“An engineer.” Tony supplied. 

Rocket looked at Tony with a blank expression, not knowing the word. “What’s that?” 

“I design tech, build it.” 

Rocket leaned in, looking very interested. “That weapon that took-” 

Gamora interrupted Rocket. “Shit.” Everybody looked at her, Gamora’s expression didn’t ease Peter’s concerns. 

Peter was worried, now what? What could be worse than what they already knew? “What? Gamora, what is it?” 

“You have…” Gamora looked up from the screen to lock eyes with Tony. “What do you have inside you?” 

Tony grimaced. “Shrapnel. I’ve had it since before… Since before.” 

Gamora looked at him in shock. “How are you alive?” 

Tony patted the blue light through his clothes. “This is an arc reactor, it powers an electromagnet, which keeps the shrapnel suspended so it won’t pierce my heart.” 

“Oh my fuckin’ god. Dude, that has to hurt like hell.” Peter gaped at Tony, the heck? 

Tony shrugged in nonchalance. “Used to it.” 

Peter couldn’t wrap his head over it, how could someone live with that thing inside of them? How could someone move, let alone fight with something like that? 

He sighed. “Okay, I bet in Xandar they could take them out, if you want them to.” 

“I…” Tony’s voice wavered and he looked down, as if afraid to look at them. “Can I think about it?” His voice barely a whisper, but they heard it in the silence of the room. 

Peter nodded, understanding it was a complicated process and Tony’s nervousness about it. “Sure, take your time, it’ll take about a month or two to reach Xandar.” Tony nodded and Peter decided it was time for him to eat and drink something. “So… Breakfast everyone?” 

Tony tensed at that but nodded and went with them, he stumbled a few times but he didn’t fall, how he did it Peter still couldn’t figure it out, but he kept himself close just in case Tony fell. 

They arrived at the kitchen and sat down, all of them except Peter, it was his turn of cooking. He was careful to make something a sick person would stomach and once he had all the food, he turned around and saw Tony was still standing. He frowned at that but didn’t know what to say, so he looked imploringly at Gamora. 

Gamora nodded and gestured to Tony to sit next to her. He did so slowly and finally, he sat down. Then Peter put the food on the table, a dish in front of each of them. That of course, included Tony now, he also gave him a big glass of water and sat down next to Tony. But Tony didn’t eat, didn’t reach for the water. He only stared at the food with a poker face, until Rocket interfered. 

“Peter isn’t that bad of a cook, he won’t poison you.” Rocket snarked with a smirk. 

Peter grumbled at that. “Rocket you little shit.” 

However, Rocket’s intervention worked, Tony clumsily took the fork and started to eat. At the first mouthful, he stilled and, to Peter’s horror, Tony started crying. 

Rocket snickered. “Is Peter’s food that bad?” 

Tony shook his head, hastily wiping at the tears that wouldn’t stop falling. “I…” He whispered something Peter didn’t pick up, but it seemed Rocket did. 

“Of course it’s people's food, you’re a person!” Rocket looked enraged at that, and Peter couldn’t fault him. 

The implications of such a phrase made Peter’s blood boil, but he didn’t dare to ask. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Peter couldn’t decide. Drax dared to comment with the delicacy of a train. 

“Sounds like you haven’t eaten people’s food in a while.” The grave voice in which he said it made it somewhat better, but Tony still tensed, tears still flowing. 

“I… They… I’ve only eaten cookies, they said they were pet’s food.” Tony’s voice was strangled and low, but all of them heard. 

A heavy silence followed that declaration. Peter felt sick and the urge to puke was so strong he almost ran to the bathroom again. But he managed to swallow down the bile and touch Tony’s hand. The way he flinched made Peter retreat immediately. But Tony was looking at him now so he smiled apologetically and vowed. “You’ll never eat anything but people’s food from now on.” 

Tony looked stunned and, for the first time, he smiled. It was small and hesitant, but it was a smile all the same. Peter thought he’d do anything to make Tony smile again. 

* * *

The pet laid awake on the bed. Its fingers resting on its mouth. 

Food. 

It ate food. People’s food. And a whole dish, not leftovers, but a whole plate served specifically for it. It felt ashamed of crying in front of the people who saved it, but it couldn’t help it. The pet was so pathetic, it couldn’t even stop crying now. The taste of people’s food… It had forgotten how good people’s food was. Feigning being a person was definitely the right choice. The pet just hoped it would be convincing enough. 

* * *

So far, it seemed they bought its act. None of them had treated it as anything but a person, so it must be doing a good job at that. 

The pet was in the room they let it use, it spent a lot of time here. Bedrest. It used to hate bed rest, back when it was a person. But now it calmed the pet, it was too tired most of the time and it still didn’t know how to act well in front of its saviors. 

A knock on the door distracted it. “Come in.” The pet still felt strange at allowing people to enter, being treated as if it were a person was wonderful and puzzling. 

Rocket entered, Groot in his arms. “Hey, how are you feeling today? Groot wanted to keep you company so you don’t get bored. So you’re stuck with him but only if you want to?” 

Company. The pet looked at Groot, who waved at it enthusiastically. The pet felt itself smile a bit, Groot was adorable, it looked back at Rocket and nodded. “Hello, I’m feeling good today and I’d like that, thanks.” 

“Don’t thank me, it was Groot who wanted to chat with you.” Rocket left Groot’s pot by the window and left. 

The pet spent the rest of the day talking with Groot, who had a great sense of humor and reminded the pet to DUM-E a bit. It hurt the pet to think about DUM-E or anyone from Earth, so it tried to not think about them. The pet knew that it’d have to go back at some point, they needed to know about Thanos. But now it wasn’t ready for that. 

It saw the others during meal times, something it still couldn’t believe it could have. Sitting at the table, with everyone else, being served on a plate, eating with a fork. The pet felt as if in a dream. 

It had nightmares every night. Sometimes, it was still with its previous owners, being raped constantly, being punished for its foolish hope. They hurt the pet so bad in those dreams, the pet wanted to die. It woke up feeling drained and gross. 

But the worst nights were when it dreamed of the guardians treating it just like its previous owners had. Where Drax and Peter would rape it and the rest would use it and punish it for everything. After those dreams, it had problems looking at them in the eye. It felt dirty, even more, because it dragged its saviors with it on the mud. They didn’t deserve to be looked at like that, even if only in dreams. 

One day, Peter came to its room to leave Groot, but he stayed, with the pet’s permission. It was hesitant still, but last night it had dreamed of Peter raping and punishing it, so it accepted his company. The pet didn’t want to deny anything one of the guardians said right now. 

Surprisingly, the pet had a good time. It could tell Peter was doing an effort to be gentle with it, which warmed its heart and made it furious and ashamed at the same time. It was so weak, it shouldn’t need special treatment. 

The second guardian who stayed with it was Gamora. She reminded it a bit of Natashalie, but thousands of times deadlier and more empathetic. Gamora seemed to like the pet, for some reason. Slowly, the guardians started to turn to keep him company, it was nice. A feeling he had forgotten. 

None of them brought up Thanos or it leading an army again. The pet knew it wasn’t because they had forgotten or discarded the idea, but because they were giving it time to recover. That made it love them, but at the same time, it felt like an imposter. It didn’t think it’d ever be Tony Stark again, at least not enough for it to lead an army against someone like Thanos. But it had to try, for the universe and for the people who had done so much for it. 

Rocket was by far the pet’s favorite person to talk to, he told it about the tech about different planets and how they worked, which fascinated the pet to no end. He had a great sense of humor and an attitude to match. 

The meals were great, if a bit awkward. What with the pet still awed at the fact it could eat with everybody else and the same food too! It tried to not show it the best it could, but the pet thought Gamora and Rocket knew how it was feeling. In any case, the meals were great, even with the awkwardness and it was less and less awkward with each meal, so life was looking good. The pet never thought life could be good for it again, it was nice, if filled with uncertainty. 

* * *

Its owners were pissed at it, with good reason. The pet had dared to think the dream was real, it must have talked in its sleep because all its owners were pissed at it now. The pet dreaded what was to come, but it didn’t resist, that would only make things worse for it. They didn’t need to grab it or pin it to the floor, a mere order was enough. 

Pain and jeers were the only things the pet felt for some time. It didn’t know how long it was abused. But suddenly, it didn’t feel anything anymore, it opened its eyes and saw it was alone in space. But it was falling, falling and falling. The pet started to panic, what was happening? Why was it falling? No, no. It didn’t want to do this, The pet tried everything it could think of, but nothing stopped its fall. 

Suddenly, it was back on Earth. It was in its house at Malibu and he cried in relief. But before it could call for JARVIS, Pepper, Happy and Rhodey appeared, the three of them looked enraged. The pet covered its ears so it wouldn’t hear their screams, but their voices pierced its skull. Giving it a headache. They approached and started to kick it, the pet managed to stand and ran through the house, its past friends on its heels. 

It called for JARVIS, begging him to help it. 

JARVIS' voice was steel cold and contemptuous when he addressed the pet. “For you, pet? Never.” 

The pet woke up with a jerk. It was covered in sweat and crying. Damn it, again these dreams. It never thought it’d miss the nightmares about Afghanistan, but it did. The pet ran its fingers through its hair. What a mess it was, it was so pathetic. 

* * *

Rocket came one day and instead of staying, he asked the pet. “You said you knew a thing or two about tech, wanna come with me to the lab?” 

The pet stayed stunned for a few seconds. Rocket was inviting it to the lab? The pet smiled hesitantly and nodded. “Yes, I’d like that, thank you.” It added, verbal answers too drilled in his head for it to not being polite. 

It couldn’t help it, once it entered the lab, its eyes became wet. The place was different, but it was familiar enough to it’s lab back on Earth for the pet to want to cry. It stole his breath for a second. Rocket looked at the pet at its gasp, but didn’t comment and for that the pet was grateful. 

Being in a lab with someone else, someone who was smart and could keep up, was amazing. The pet felt nothing but joy while they discussed tech, while Rocket taught it how alien tech worked with examples, and, forgetting about everything else, the pet suggested improvements. The first time it happened, it froze in horror, sure Rocket would punish it now. But Rocket only grinned and started to discuss the improvements. That put the pet at ease and slowly, it started to smile more. When on the fourth day, Rocket eagerly asked about the weapon that destroyed a quarter of Thanos’ army, the pet hesitantly told Rocket about how it had been a weapons manufacturer, about Afghanistan, and how he stopped. 

Rocket called it an idiot, saying it wasn’t at fault. The pet stood frozen in shock. It was the first time someone said it wasn’t its fault. But Rocket made very convincing arguments and with each day they discussed the topic, the pet started to believe it a bit more, by the third week of discussing it, it almost believed it completely. 

Their favorite topic of conversation was the Iron Man suit, Rocket was begrudgingly impressed with the suit and they spent hours talking about the design and how to improve it with alien tech. They also spoke about the arc reactor and JARVIS, Rocket was firmly set on the idea of the pet creating an AI for the ship. The pet liked the idea but was hesitant to propose it. Rocket solved the problem by doing it himself in the second week. 

Once the others heard the idea, they were instantly on board. So Rocket and it started to design an AI alongside an Iron Man suit. So enthralled in their tech talks Peter and Gamora had to start to come to get them for them to eat and sleep every day of the second and third week. The pet felt amazing, it was wonderful to be in its element again. Even if the feeling disappeared as soon as it left the lab, it was still way better than it thought it’d ever feel again. It wished it could sleep in the lab and never leave. But the pet knew it had to get accustomed to living outside of its element if it wanted to become a person again someday. The concept of being a person again was looking more possible with each day. Maybe it wouldn’t be Tony Stark, with all that implies, ever again. But maybe, just maybe, it’d be able to become something similar or even better. 

* * *

Tony was doing well enough, as far as Peter could see. He still hadn’t opened up to them, which frustrated Peter. He wanted to help Tony get better, but he understood well that Tony couldn’t just get better this soon, he had gone through hell and worse. So he didn’t push it. It wouldn’t work anyway, Tony could be more stubborn than… Well, anyone he had ever met. 

Sometimes in the mornings, he would act weird for a while, but there was progress and that was what mattered. He was becoming friends with Groot, he was bonding with Rocket, both playing in the lab, which made Tony smile and Peter totally wasn’t jealous of that. Totally...

So things were looking good, they’d arrive at Xandar in two weeks, Tony would be healed of his physical wounds and they would go back to their lives, which now included Tony. Peter hoped their lives would include Tony even after defeating Thanos. 

Peter was lost in his musings, so he didn’t hear what prompted Drax’s comment, but he saw the effects they caused, and god he wished he hadn’t. 

“Relax,” Drax said, addressing Tony, who went rigid and, with a vacant expression on his face, stood and kneeled on the floor in front of the table. Arms behind his back and mouth open, tongue out. 

Peter had been with enough flings and had had enough kinky sex to know what such a pose meant and he felt sick, Tony still had that vacant expression on his face. So he was lost in his mind, he must be thinking he was back with those scum. The fact he acted like that because of a word so innocent as ‘relax’, made Peter’s blood boil. How he wished they’d killed those scum more painfully, they hadn’t deserved a quick death. They should have tortured them until they begged to be killed. 

Peter immediately stood, the rest of the Guardians doing it at the same time. He and Drax walked over to Tony and grabbed him gently, trying to make him stand. 

It was a mistake. 

The moment Tony felt hands on him, he changed position, now he was on all fours. As if waiting for them to rape him from both sides. But the worst was hearing Tony speaking, in a voice void of any emotion and loud enough for all of them to hear. 

“I’ll be a good pet, I’ll be a good pet. I was born to be used, being used is all I’m good at. Please fuck me, please use me. I’ll be a good pet, I’ll be a good pet…” 

Peter tried to speak but no words came out, stunned and helpless, he didn’t know what to do to make things right. Before he could decide on what to do, he was shoved off Tony by Rocket, who snarled at him and Drax. “Back the fuck off, you’re making it worse! Get the hell outta here!” 

Peter wanted to protest, he wanted to help too! But he was grabbed by Gamora, who had Groot’s pot on her other hand and dragged them towards the exit, glaring at them and Drax into submission. They left the room, but stayed just on the other side, door ajar. Peter watched helplessly as Rocket touched Tony’s hand and in a gentle and soft voice Peter didn’t know Rocket was even capable of, started to speak. 

“You’re a person, you’re a person. You were born to do whatever the fuck you want to, you’re hella smart, you’re a warrior. Nobody’s gonna use you anymore. You’re a person, you’re a person…” 

It took what seemed like an eternity for Tony to calm down enough for him to stop talking and stand. Rocket guided Tony to a chair and gave him a cup of the calming tea they had. Making sure to ask Tony to drink and phrase it as a request and not as an order. Peter made a mental note to never phrase anything as an order to Tony. Watching this once was enough. 

Once Tony seemed calm enough, Rocket looked at them and nodded. They cautiously entered the room, they sat and an awkward silence took over. Tony was back at his poker face, but he was blushing hard, cheeks and ears red, his eyes were wet and Peter hated himself for not being able to do anything and felt the urge to punch Drax. But he didn’t do it, because he knew Drax wasn’t at fault, those scum were. 

“Sorry.” Tony’s hollow and broken voice made Peter come out of his musings. Peter couldn’t believe Tony was apologizing, they were the ones who should be apologizing, and yet… 

Drax spoke, voice grave and full of regret. “No, you don’t have anything to be sorry for. It was my fault, I’m sorry. I’ll do my best so this won’t happen again.” 

Tony, who had tensed at hearing the no, slowly relaxed and nodded. But Peter knew Tony enough, or at least he wanted to think he did, to know he was ashamed. The way he wouldn’t meet anyone's eyes was a good hint and he vowed to be more careful around Tony, they needed to talk about it, preferably when Tony was asleep. And then talk with Tony about this too and best to do it before reaching Xandar, who knew how he would react to an order given by a doctor, better be prepared. 

* * *

Peter woke up Drax while Gamora fetched Rocket and Groot, they met in Drax’s room, everybody looking grim. Not being able to forget what had happened at dinner. 

Gamora opened the conversation with a grim face. “Okay, we need to make sure this never happens again.” 

“How?” Drax asked, a bit subdued. 

Rocket was the one who answered. “Well, we sure as hell can’t order him to do anything, even if it seems innocent as ‘pass the salt’, who knows what those sick bastards said to him, I’m not gonna ask. So, no orders, only requests phrased as explicit requests.” 

“Also, if this happens again, no grabbing. Touching his hand seems to be okay, but no grabbing.” Gamora added. 

They nodded. 

Peter ran his hand through his hair. “Okay, so what can we do? The doctors-” 

Gamora interrupted him. “We’ll just have to talk with them first, explain the situation, and stay close in case we are needed. Rocket, you’re closest to Tony, you should stay closer.” Rocket grumbled but didn’t deny it and Peter felt a pang of jealousy that was immediately put down. The last thing he needed was to think with his dick in this situation. 

* * *

The pet was being raped again, it felt the strain in its body. It could hear Peter and Drax’s voices and their hands on its body, but it couldn’t see. 

Suddenly, it wasn’t on the ship anymore. It was falling to Earth, this time, to the ocean. The pet fell to the ocean full force, his skull throbbed painfully, his panic rising as it drowned. It was already in the ocean, but it kept falling until the pet reached the bottom of the ocean. It tried desperately to go back to the surface, to no avail. 

Suddenly it could breathe again and it opened its eyes. It was back in the room it woke up, back with its previous owners. Panic rose again, it didn’t want to die here. To its horror, its skin began to root. No, no, no, no, no! It couldn’t die, not like this! 

The door opened, the pet raised its head, but its eyes had fallen a few seconds ago so it couldn’t see who it was. The pet felt a kick in the gut and someone put their foot on its head, Gamora’s voice sounded in front of it. “Filth, we saved you because we wanted a pet of our own. You dare to think of yourself as our equal? Mark my words, you’re not a person, never will be.” Gamora kicked it in the back of its head hard and the pet woke up with a silent scream, tears flowing through its eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading, please share your thoughts!   
> and thanks to Cypher_nicus from discord for being beta for this chapter!


	3. Not an update

Hello

I'm sorry to say this, but my muse has been kidnapped by Naruto and I currently find myself unable to read or write anything from any other fandom

Will that pass? Yes, eventually I'll be able to go back to other fandoms, however I don't know how long that will be, it can be a couple of weeks, it can be almost a year or even more, my muse is a bitch like that

So we've decided to put the fic on hiatus. Now, under no circumstances this means we abandoned this story. We'll eventually go back to it, but that will be only once we finish the main fic so this won't happen again. It can take years so that's why we are putting it on hiatus

Sorry about this, but I'm the type that can't force themselves to write without hating what they write, themselves and the world and I have enough things to worry about with a pandemy and all of the shit that's happening in the world to add more. Writing is supposed to be fun, so yeah, hiatus is it

I'll stop rambling now, that's all, read you someday again~ 

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to ScarletSorceress and Cypher_nicus from discord for being beta for this chapter!  
> Hope you enjoyed this, any constructive cristism is appreciated 
> 
> edited on December 20, 2020.


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